CAREERS: Pandora's Problem Page

May 27, 2002

Q: I've been working at my present agency for a few years. I've
ascended the management ladder at a steady pace. Not to brag, but I'm
very good at what I do and I am especially proud of my ability to deal
with clients.

Q: I've been working at my present agency for a few years. I've
ascended the management ladder at a steady pace. Not to brag, but I'm
very good at what I do and I am especially proud of my ability to deal
with clients.

Though some may say you should never mix work with your personal life, I
have actually become friendly with one certain client. Our relationship
is going great, and, quite frankly, perhaps surprisingly, it hasn't
affected our professional rapport at all.

Here is the problem. I have some pretty close friends here at the
firm.

I told them what was going on. Though I am not intentionally hiding the
romance, some things needn't be made public to all. Unfortunately, some
so-called friend has a big mouth. Now, top brass knows about this and
have made it known to me that they don't approve.

This leads to many questions. Is it top brass' business, especially if I
still serve my client well? What about the in-office chatterbox? I am
deeply offended that someone would divulge personal information. I
suppose I should have suspected this could happen, but I thought we were
all adults here and could be trusted. Guess not. What should I do?

Mr. B, Chicago

A: Part of the function of PR is managing perceptions. Take a step back
from this situation and evaluate it as you would for a client. In this
case, your internal audiences are your colleagues and the "top brass."
The external audience is the client with whom you have a relationship,
and the rest of your clients.

In your conversations about your personal life you've probably given no
thought to the impact of your statements on any of these parties. From
now on, you must think before you speak.

Your firm may have no set policy against dating clients. But you must
ask yourself if the situation creates a negative perception of you among
coworkers and senior management. You must also consider how other
clients would react if they knew.

You ask, 'Is it the top brass' business?

The answer is yes, of course
it is. You are the one who has made it their business by talking to your
colleagues. A harsh lesson about the impact of self-fulfilling office
gossip was recently learned by the former editor of The Harvard Business
Review. Don't let yourself become the next case study in conflict of
interest.

And you can't blame the messenger - you opened the door. If you want to
keep your private issues separate from your working life, keep your
mouth shut.

Q: I am the corporate communications VP for an enterprise software
company.

The CEO recently gave a keynote address at a big conference. On his way
to the podium, he tripped and fell flat on his face. A staff
photographer from the local paper snapped a picture of him that must be
incredibly embarrassing (we haven't seen it, it did not run in the
paper).

My CEO wants me to get that picture. Frankly, I think he's afraid they
will splash it on the front page of the business section if the share
price plummets or something. How can I make sure it never sees the light
of day?

Ms. P, Burlingame, CA

A: Sorry, you are out of luck. I spoke to the photo desk of the San Jose
Mercury News to find out their policy on this sort of thing. The
gentleman there informed me that the paper does not sell its unused
pictures. Other papers will no doubt feel the same. I'm afraid you'll
have to warn your CEO that there is no guarantee the photo will never
run. In the meantime, make sure you provide plenty of good photo
opportunities so the bad picture won't become the photo of last
resort.

Do you have a problem that no one else has been able to solve? Try
Pandora. E-mail her at pandora@prweek.com.